Backseat mitherers! How our other halves drive us spare

MORE than a third of Britons insist their other half is a backseat driver, according to a survey.

Some 35 per cent polled said their partners couldn’t resist interfering when they were driving, with two thirds admitting arguing while in the car.

On average, motorists are able to hold their tongues for just 25 minutes before the journey descends into a series of rows. Going too fast (58 per cent), being in the wrong lane (46 per cent), going too slow (35 per cent), driving the wrong way (34 per cent), a lack of attention (26 per cent) and cutting another driver up (24 per cent) are the main triggers.

The most infuriating symptoms of a backseat driver included making constant gasping noises when a car gets too close (52 per cent), shouting directions (51 per cent), and saying ‘I wouldn’t have come this way’ (48 per cent). Richard Evans, at webuyanycar, which commissioned the survey of 2,000, said: ‘It’s evident from the research that backseat driving is an ever-present challenge for the nation’s motorists.

‘Many of us have experienced the frustration of having to ferry around a backseat driver – or the frustration of being one ourselves – and it’s clearly something that can make even the smallest journey stressful.’